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Dating back to the turn of the century the Wentworth Plaza Hotel stood alongside that of the Bohemia Hotel and through time the two combined to be known solely as the Wentworth Plaza Hotel. The name “The Bohème” is a derivative brought about by the old Bohemia Hotel.
Today “The Bohème Bar & Restaurant” which opened on Thursday 27th January brings back a certain modernity although inspired by the classic glamour of the roaring 20’s. Designed collaboratively by the owners, The Brockwell Family and Oldfield Knott Architects, The Bohème is a far cry away from its old counterpart Bobby Dazzlers. A fabulous restoration to the facade of the Wentworth as well as opening up the internals of this fabulous heritage hotel have created a classy, open free flowing venue with state of the art and no expense spared fit out that is taken through to the main kitchen.
Bobby Dazzlers, which was billed as Perth’s first ‘True Blue’ Aussie pub, was a celebration of Australian kitsch offering ‘Pub Grub Tucker’. The Bohème however is truly dazzling and on a totally different design scale befitting Perth’s growing nightlife sophistication.
The 1920’s art deco theme is subtle most notably in the dramatic circular concertina lights that hang throughout the large space. Bawdy booths have given way to rich leather chesterfields and expensive fixtures, and from the plush carpets underfoot to the new slightly larger bar, the entire space feels so much more approachable now. But it is attention to detail that really distinguishes this refit, seen in the new restaurant area to the left and the now more lush alfresco setting on the street outside.
Perth based Oldfield Knott Architects were the design maestros behind this glamorous make over with senior designer Samantha Broadley given a pretty open design visual by the client.
“We had layout requirements and to keep with the heritage look of the building, but I pretty much had a free range to come up with a design and colour concept,” commented Samantha. “My approach was create something timeless but also edgy, an environment that all patrons could enjoy and relate too.”
As the venue is a heritage building living in the modern era, Oldfield Knott Architects had several obstacles to overcome such as air conditioner locations and they were very limited to the height space to accommodate the air conditioner ducts.
“We also became a little restricted with certain light fittings as we also didn't have enough room in the ceiling for ventilation to some fittings,” added Samantha.
Upon noticing the existing decorative window details both externally and internally, Samantha decided to use this pattern repeat with forms and materials thus tying the entire concept together.
“There is a lot happening within the space so keeping simple key form and colours helps maintain a smart and elegant feel to the venue,” said Samantha. “The repeated pattern is clearly visible on the decorative Bisazza tile on the floor apron and the feature fins to the ceiling details which helps with acoustics.”
As theclient requested a European feel to the project, Samantha incorporate this through black and white large scale photographs applied to glass partitions. She also introduced button hole detail to both seating and decorative mirrors. |
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Although the colour scheme ties into the heritage external colours it is also contemporary in ambience adding to the modern slick feel but also the traditional warmth that the old bar held.
"I didn't want the colour scheme to be typically European so I went for a more modern, masculine colour palette,” remarked Samantha. “
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Turbosound TCS-081C
The Turbosound TCS-081C is a compact trapezoidal passive two-way
loudspeaker enclosure designed for use in a
wide range of fixed installations. A
weather-resistant version is optionally
available with an IP rating of 54.
Hills SVL
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Mega Vision Sound & Lighting designed and installed the audio visual requirements for The Bohème having the benefit of working on the project from when the venue was totally gutted.
“We still had problems with the low ceiling as any space that was available, was taken up by air conditioning, bulkheads, lighting fixtures and ornamental features,” remarked Jeff Georgiou, managing director of Mega Vision Sound & Lighting. “We were involved fairly early on but as is the case with many such projects, we would unexpectedly run into things like mirrors or lights which would prevent planned placement of gear. We did plan to add more plasma screens but couldn’t because the air conditioning bulkheads came down too low. Similarly we had to use ceiling speakers rather than surface mount in some areas.”
Small Turbosound Impact 55 speakers provide background music in the dining area as well as in the middle bar where some sub woofers have also been installed. Under the bulkhead of the bar, Turbosound TCT50 ceiling speakers that match the characteristics of the Impact 55 speakers have been installed.
Audio in the main area is hampered by the large columns and to get good sound coverage that could cater to daytime background music as well as DJ’s in the evening, Jeff installed Turbosound TCS081 speakers and some TCS110 sub woofers. The result is a warm, even sound in that area.
Australian Monitor QF8 ceiling speakers were used in the toilets and all of the audio is powered by Quest 2004 and 3004 amplifiers.
A Crestron control system is used to control the audio and vision (a Panasonic 65” commercial grade plasma screen and several 40” and 42” LCD screens) in the venue, running a Nion Digital Audio Processor for the audio matrixing.
“The client was really impressed by the Crestron touch screen and the ease of use it offers,” said Jeff. “They loved that anyone could use it and that they could store and easily access their presets for different times of the day. It really has made life so much easier for them. |
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